ACR Bulletin June 2018

Navigating Change

How will the ACR support members for the future of our specialty?

This is my first Bulletin column as ACR BOC Chair. I am honored and privileged to assume this office. I have been truly fortunate to serve as vice chair under the expert leadership of my predecessor, James A. Brink, MD, FACR. I extend my gratitude to Jim for all he has done to advance our profession and for all that I have learned from him. I am also grateful to my home department at Weill Cornell Medicine. Without the support of Robert J. Min, MD, chair of radiology at Weill Cornell, and my generous colleagues, I would not be able to commit to this responsibility.

Dispatches

News from the ACR and Beyond

The Slowing of the Quality Payment Program

What does the delay in implementation mean for your practice?

In 2015, MACRA was introduced to considerable fanfare. The new legislation replaced the Sustainable Growth Rate physician payment formula with the Quality Payment Program (QPP). MACRA promised to stabilize physician payments, consolidate and simplify quality reporting programs, and provide a useful on-ramp to new value-based payment models. The legislation passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in both houses of Congress.

A Perfect Fit

Radiologists need only the facts and minimal effort for successful year-two QPP participation.

With the second transition year for physicians participating in value-based care underway, Quality Payment Program (QPP) experts say radiologists needn’t scramble to find an exemption from the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) or Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs) components of the QPP for 2018.

Achieving Success With R-SCAN

The ACR Radiology Support, Communications and Alignment Network (R-SCAN®) empowers radiolo­gists to take the first step in building a collaborative and consultative relationship with their referring clini­cians. With its ready-to-go projects, R-SCAN is helping radiologists thrive in the CMS Quality Payment Program (QPP) established under MACRA.

Becoming a Better Leader

Successful leaders possess a high degree of emotional intelligence, a term often defined as the ability to identify emotions in facial expressions, vocal intonations, and posture, as well as the ability to gauge the emotional nature of situations. However, to lead with social and emotional competence, one needs an array of skills and characteristics that drive leadership performance.

A multidisciplinary team invites patients and their families to a weekly thoracic oncology clinic at Elkhart General Hospital.

Rethinking the Patient Experience

A radiology resident recounts his journey undergoing cancer treatment — and its impact on him as a physician.

In 2016, at the age of 32, I was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma. I’ve since had two exploratory laparotomies, a thoracotomy, multiple organ and bowel resections, a kidney injury necessitating three months of dialysis, subclavian and internal jugular deep vein thromboses, a fascial dehiscence, a port that eroded through my abdominal wall, at least four separate admissions for bowel obstructions, eight cycles of intra­peritoneal chemotherapy, and ten cycles of intravenous chemotherapy. I think it’s fair to say that I know a thing or two about the patient experience.

Discovering AI Together

ACR’s RFS delves into deep learning as a community through a virtual journal club.

Data science is revolutionizing the way medicine is practiced. Machine learning application is on the rise in just about every field of healthcare, signaling changes that have some specialists, including radiologists, speculating on how the ever-improving technology may change their position in the landscape.

Inspiring the Next Generation

Two radiologists go back to the classroom to educate students about the profession.

Children often say, “I want to be a doctor when I grow up,” but how many say, “I want to be a radiologist”? Taking radiology into the classroom is a passion shared by Rebecca L. Seidel, MD, assistant professor of radiology and imaging sciences at Emory University School of Medicine, and Cheri L. Canon, MD, FACR, professor and chair of radiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine.